The boy had last been seen in the Peasley Road area about 10:45 a.m. At 2:30 p.m., Raymond Aucoin, a farmer on Baker Road saw the boy standing near a tractor and crying, said Police Chief Ryan Murdough.

Aucoin drove the boy back to the home where he was staying about 1.5 miles away.

Police said the boy, who is from Hillsborough, disappeared when he was playing outside a home his family was visiting.

"He had been outside playing," Murdough said. "His dad had yelled out the window and checked on him, and he acknowledged him at one point. A little while later, he yelled for him, and he did not respond. At that point, they became concerned. They checked the house, cars, garages, all the buildings."

Police sent out reverse calls and text and email alerts to people in a 4-mile radius as they began their search with fire officials and members of the Fish and Game Department. Aucoin said he received the alerts before he saw the boy by his tractor.

"He was crying, and I figured this must be the boy they were looking for," Aucoin said.

He said the boy appeared tired but unhurt.

"I told him I was going to bring him down to his daddy, so he seemed to be pretty happy," Aucoin said.

The boy was taken back to Peasley Road for a tearful reunion with his family.

"It was a great outcome," Murdough said. "The child was OK. It was a traumatic experience for the child and the family, but I think everything turned out great."

Police said it's unclear how the boy made it to the Baker Road farm. Murdough said the boy's pant legs were slightly wet, so he likely went off the road and might have followed snowmobile trails.